Before There Was Jim
NEUBAUER
1. Charles G. Neubauer and Augusta E. Neubauer (Grens) were both born in Germany and emigrated to the USA. Charles became a Chicago streetcar conductor and was known for his dandelion wine. Augusta particularly enjoyed baking bread.
2. Charles and Augusta had four daughters: Mildred, Hertha, Lydia, and Elenore. They welcomed Mildred Neubauer (Jim’s mother) into the world on January 19, 1907, in Chicago, Illinois.
3. Jim and his cousin Janice in front of the charming house at 4515 N Karlov Ave during Jim and Ruth’s 2009 nostalgic visit to the area. This was the home of Charles and Augusta Neubauer. When their eldest daughter Mildred married, she and her new husband Adolph initially lived in the upstairs, and it was here that. Mildred gave birth to Jean. Jean lived here long enough to remember her grandpa Charles coming home from work around 3 pm and her running out to greet him and give him a piece of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum. He would take Jean and Bob riding on the streetcars. After moving out, Jean and Bob would occasionally spend the night here. In the evenings, Grandpa Charles would get out a paring knife, cut up apples slices, and share them with Jean and Bob. He also sat on the floor and read the Sunday funnies with them.
4. Mildred
5. Augusta and Charles with their eldest daughter Mildred. Mildred is wearing Charles’ streetcar conductor cap bearing cap number 8325. We’re not sure what Mildred is hiding under her skirt.
6. Mildred
7. Mildred in 1924 at Independence Park on N Springfield Ave wearing a new winter coat..
8. Mildred
9. Mildred
10. A formal portrait of Mildred, perhaps her high school graduation photo.
11. Three of the Neubauer sisters (L to R) Hertha (Kuehn), Lydia (Kurth), and Mildred (Neumann). Sister Elenore (Desmedt) is not pictured. This photo was likely taken on the same occasion as Photo 43 below. Notice the very rare round screen Zenith TV. Zenith began in Chicago in 1918.
12. Charles and Augusta Neubauer in their later years.
Now we turn to the story of Jim’ paternal ancestors.
NEUMANN
13. Greater family research has been conducted into the paternal side of Jim’s family—the Neumanns. Though culturally from Wuerttemberg or Pomerania, Germany, Jim’s father and his family did not emigrate directly from Germany to the USA. Around 1801, Jim’s paternal ancestors found work east of Germany in Russian-controlled Poland. It was here that Jim’s paternal grandparents were born. Pauline Kunkel was born on May 22, 1860, in Feliksow, near Gostynin, Poland (#1 above). John Martin Neumann was born on September 28, 1860, in Kurnedz, Poland (#2 above).
14. Both the Kunkels (#1) and Neumanns (#2) were largely farming families who likely migrated further east to the “wooded world” of Volhynia, in northwestern Ukraine, looking for new forests to clear in order to plant crops. Both Pauline’s and John’s families migrated to Volhynia (combined #1 and #2 circle at right), allowing them to meet when they were both around 21 years old. They were married in the Lutheran church in Rozyszcze on February 2, 1882.
John Neumann, Jim’s paternal grandfather, in his later years.
15. In Volhynia, John worked in the bogs cutting peat for fuel and in the forest making wooden shingles for roofs. Ironically, John and Pauline lived in a house of “interlocking boards with a thatched roof.” They had nine sons, of which Adolph (Jim’s father) was the ninth—born on November 19, 1904, probably in “Kiselowka” (or similarly spelled names, most commonly a village in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine). Oral family history suggests Pauline may have had two other children that miscarried or were still-born. By 1911, John and Pauline, both 51 years old, found their family surrounded by political upheaval and decided to emigrate to America.
16. The voyages of only 6 of the 11 family members is known. John and sons Martin and Emil departed from Libau, Latvia, aboard the SS Birma and arrived in the Port of New York on August 30, 1911. From there they entered Ontario, Canada, and then finally settled in Chicago, Illinois, on December 31, 1911. Roughly a year later, on October 31, 1912, Pauline and their two youngest sons Karl and Adolph (8 years old), departed from Rotterdam, Netherlands, aboard the SS Volturno and arrived in Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on November 11, 1912. They then joined the rest of the family in Chicago, Illinois. This is the Naturalization form for Pauline and Adolph dated May 27, 1920, 8 years following their arrival. The address listed here in 1920 was Edward and Adelheid’s: 2632 Cortez St.
17. Russian-controlled Poland or Volhynia (Ukraine) were both within the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, when arriving in America, some families listed their country of origin as Poland, while others listed Russia. Whether living in “Poland” or “Ukraine,” these ancestors primarily spoke German, rarely learned Russian, and maintained a distinctly German identity. This photo, estimated to have been taken around 1945, features: Emilie (Edward Sr.’s second wife after Adelheide died), Johnny (Edward Sr. and Adelheids’s 3rd son), John (Jim’s paternal grandfather), Edward Sr. (John’s oldest son), and Albert Neumann (Edward Sr. and Adelheids’s 2nd son) in an unknown house in Chicago. Jim was roughly 5 years old when this photo was taken.
18. John (Jim’s paternal grandfather), Adolph (age 10), Martin (son #5), Pauline, (Jim’s paternal grandmother), Emil (son #7), Adelheid, Edward Jr. (infant), and Edward Sr. (son #1) Neumann in 1914, several years after arriving in Chicago. Adelheid died at age 37 on June 23, 1926, very near when Adolph and Mildred met.
19. Adolph was confirmed on April 13, 1919, Palm Sunday, at Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago. Offering a glimpse into the cultural background of its congregants, the certificate is written in German.
20. Photo 18 is the only known photo of a young Adolph. This and the following photo may be out of order chronologically, but they show Adolph as a young man.
Adolph’s father John was a very serious person. He was proud of his lawn and, with the soul of a cantankerous old man, yelled at the neighbor boys when they played on it. He read his German Bible each morning and did a lot of “preaching” to the family. He read the German paper Abendpost and freely shared his opinions on world affairs. He never drove a car. He was a watchman (security guard) for a shoe company and later a porter at a tailor shop.
21. While living in Chicago, Adolph’s mother Pauline was known for her sausage, soup, coffee cake, pączki (Polish pastries), white bread, and stollen (German Christmas bread).
22. Adolph’s parents, John and Pauline, lived at 2626 Cortez St, the brown building on the left. Their oldest son Edward Sr. (Adloph’s oldest brother who was 21 years his senior!), lived with his wife Adelheide at 2632 Cortez St, the brick building offset behind the other buildings.
23. Edward Sr. and Adelheide moved from Cortez St to Erie St before setting at 4852 N Kenneth Ave, the middle building with the flag. This house was near Tabor Lutheran Church and School and near the first home Adolph and Mildred would eventually buy on N Springfield Ave.
Sadly, Adelheide died on June 23, 1926, leaving Edward Sr. with their 5 boys: Edward Jr. (12), Albert (10), Otto (8), John (6), & George (3).
Tabor Lutheran Church, 3542 W Sunnyside Ave, Chicago, IL. Adolph and Mildred’s wedding certificate lists 4512 Drake Ave as the address (Photo 32). That residence is just down the street on the right side of this photo. The church may have owned the house? Was it owned by a family member?
24. Mildred Neubauer attended Tabor Lutheran School and the Neubauer family attended the church, so we can safely presume that Adolph and Mildred met here. They began dating around the time of Adelheide’s death. John and Pauline had moved into the upstairs apartment at Edward’s place on Kenneth Ave to help Edward care for the five young boys. Mildred would help Pauline, particularly with the two youngest boys John and George.
25. If a picture paints a thousand words, then the quiet contentment on Adolph’s face beautifully reveals his love for Mildred.
26. Mildred and Adolph in a more formal moment than the in Photo 27.
27. Adolph, Mildred, and two others captured in a lighthearted moment.
28. Mildred and Adolph, perhaps on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan.
29. A very dapper Adolph
30. Mildred and Adolph, young and in love!
31. Mildred and Adolph
32. Adolph and Mildred were married on May 7, 1927, at Tabor Lutheran Church. The address listed here is a residence near the church, as mentioned in Photo 24. The witnesses were Adolph’s older brother Martin and his wife Helen Neumann nee Woltersdorf.
33. Adolph and Mildred’s wedding day photo. Upon closer inspection, Adolph and Mildred are wearing the same clothes in the following two photos.
34. The initial presumption was this was baby Jean; however, Adolph and Mildred appear to be dressed in the same outfits as their wedding day. Even their hair styling appears the same. Is it the same day? Did they dress up again in honor of the birth of their first child Jean? Are they holding some other child on their wedding day? It’s a mystery we will probably never be able to unravel.
35. Mildred on the same occasion as Photo 34. Once married, they initially lived upstairs at the home of Charles and Augusta Neubauer (Mildred’s parents) on Karlov Ave (see Photo 3 above). This swing does not appear to be at the Karlov Ave house.
36. Married in May, they were pregnant with their first child by June (it is unknown if Mildred is pregnant in this photo). When the doctor was delayed by winter weather, Mildred gave birth at home to Jean (Simpson) on February 24, 1928, in the upstairs half of the Neubauer house on Karlov Ave where she and Adolph lived. Mildred’s sister Lydia assisted with the delivery. Adolph and Mildred holding baby Jean in 1928. Jim would not be born for 12 years.
37. Mildred and Adolph
38. Bob was born a year later on October 31, 1929—two days after the "Black Tuesday” stock market plummet. Bob was originally given the name Jack Ronald, but by all accounts was always known as Bob. Thirty-eight years later, on February 16, 1968, he had it officially changed to Robert Emil; Emil was Adolph’s older brother (son #7). This is a unique view of the backyard with the space under the covered porch that is seen in several images here and in the next chapter with Jim.
39. Jean and Bob playing in the yard several years before their young brother Jim was to be born. The house is unknown, though both the house and the toy truck will be seen again in photos once their little brother Jimmy comes along. There are two houses with extended porches, this one in brick and another with wood shingle siding.
40. This photo of Bob was taken sometime in the period around when Jim was born. A later photo of Jim was taken on this same spot; however, the glass insert in the door is different in each, so the photos were not likely to have been taken at the same time.
41. This photo of Jean was taken sometime in the period around when Jim was born. This is perhaps Jean in her confirmation dress, seen again in the next chapter. If so, Jim may have been 2 years old. Early images with Jim holding hands with Mildred were likely taken very near where this and the following photo were taken.
42. Mildred, perhaps at a similar time as Photo 41, but not the same day given the different piles of trash in the background of each photo. Photos 41 & 42 may be the same location as Photo 40, only taken from the opposite perspective.
43. The happy couple, likely taken on the same occasion as Photo 11 above.
44. Adolph (left), his father John (middle), and Adolph’s oldest brother Edward Sr. This house with the shingle siding and stone base with basement windows is seen in multiple photos over many years, so it must have belonged to a family that lived there for an extended period, possibly John and Pauline or Edward Sr. and his second wife Emilie.
